National Politics

Archives of the show until 2018. For recent archives, go to: The Marc Steiner Show at the Real News Network

June 21, 2013

Trayvon Martin’s Family Attorney Gives Update On Zimmerman Trial

June 21, 2013 - Segment 1 - We speak with Ben Crump, attorney representing Trayvon Martin's family, and Edward Wyckoff Williams, contributing editor to The Root, about the trial of George Zimmerman. A jury has finally been selected, and we discuss the larger implications of the outcome of this trial.
June 18, 2013

Sound Bites: What This Farm Bill Means | Baltimore Free Farm | Union Graze Market | Recipe: Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

June 18, 2013 - Segment 5 - On Sound Bites, we continue our dialogue on the Farm Bill, which has been passed in the Senate but is still under debate in the House, look at the Baltimore Free Farm's fight to keep lots from being sold by the city, visit a new farmer's market in Baltimore, Union Graze, and hear a recipe for spaghetti aglio e olio.
June 18, 2013

NSA Surveillance Scandal And The “Military Digital Complex”

June 18, 2013 - Segment 4 - Robert McChesney provides his commentary on the NSA surveillance scandal and the "military digital complex" he says aided in the process. McChesney is the author of Digital Disconnect: How Capitalism is Turning the Internet Against Democracy.
June 12, 2013

Fighting Against The Drug War

June 12, 2013 - Segment 2 - We hear from Retired Major Neill Franklin and Don Rojas. They join us to discuss next Monday's "Day of Direct Action at the White House to Call on President Obama to End the War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration and Invest in America's 'Dark Ghettos,'" which is organized by the Institute of the Black World.
June 12, 2013

Just Words – Gloria Knight On Unionizing Child Care Providers

June 12, 2013 - Segment 5 - In one of our Peabody Award-winning Just Words segments, we meet Gloria Knight, a state-contracted daycare provider who is unable to afford health insurance.Gloria discusses the benefits she thinks would stem from unionizing child care providers in Maryland.
June 6, 2013

ACLU: Billions of Dollars Wasted on Racially Biased Marijuana Arrests

June 6, 2013 - Segment 2 - We discuss the ACLU study released this week that reveals racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests, and lists Maryland as fourth in the nation for such arrests. We will examine implications of the study as well as America's drug policy.
June 6, 2013

The View From Black America

June 6, 2013 - Segment 1 - We begin our show with a recent survey of more than 1,000 African Americans - an overwhelming majority of whom indicated that they were satisfied with their lives. The survey, conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Harvard School of Public Health, serves as the basis for the new NPR series, "The View from Black America."
June 4, 2013

Sound Bites: Does Report On Arsenic & Chicken Matter?; Monsanto Watch; And Langston Hughes’ “Freedom’s Plow”

June 4, 2013 - Segment 4 - We kick-off another live episode of Sound Bites with a debate over the Johns Hopkins University study on arsenicals in chicken, and we look at Monsanto in the news with Tom Laskawy and Tom Philpott. Then, Blain Snipstal reads a Langston Hughes poem that highlights the importance of African Americans in agriculture and farming.
June 4, 2013

Jeremy Scahill’s Dirty Wars: The World Is A Battlefield

June 4, 2013 - Segment 1 - We talk with investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, about his new book on the U.S. drone wars, Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield.
May 31, 2013

Weekly News Round-up: George Zimmerman, Washington Football Name, & Att. Gen. Eric Holder

May 31, 2013 - Segment 3 - It's time for our weekly news round-up on the latest headlines including the controversy surrounding the George Zimmerman trial for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Washington Redskins name, US Attorney General Eric Holder.
May 31, 2013

Update On George Zimmerman Trial For Shooting Death Of Trayvon Martin

May 31, 2013 - Segment 2 - We have an update on George Zimmerman and his second-degree-murder trial in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin from Jenée Desmond-Harris, staff writer and White House correspondent for The Root.
May 30, 2013

U.S. Army Soldier Bradley Manning’s Trial Starts Monday

May 30, 2013 - Segment 2 - Jesselyn Radack and Kevin Zeese update us on the trial starting next week for US Army soldier Bradley Manning, who was arrested in 2010 on suspicion of handing over classified Army documents to whistle blower Wikileaks.
May 30, 2013

Chicago and Baltimore: Two Cities Facing Tough Decisions On Education

May 30, 2013 - Segment 1 - We open a dialogue between two cities facing tough decisions on the future of education and schools: Chicago and Baltimore. Chicago's Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that 50 schools in the district will be closed, and Baltimore City's plan for the coming decade includes closing underutilized schools and placing emphasis on renovations and new school construction.
May 29, 2013

Ain’t I A Woman? African American Women And Feminism

March 29, 2013 - Segment 3 - May 29 marks the 162nd anniversary of Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech. Lea Gilmore joins us for a reading of that speech. Then, we discuss African American women and feminism with Lea Gilmore, dream hampton, Jodi Kelber-Kaye, and A. Adar Ayira.
May 29, 2013

Farai Chideya On Diversity In The Media

March 29, 2013 - Segment 2 - Journalist, author, and Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University Farai Chideya joins us to talk about the lack of diversity in media.
May 29, 2013

Medea Benjamin On Drones

March 29, 2013 - Segment 1 - Medea Benjamin joins us to talk about her new book "Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control." A prominent anti-war activist and co-founder of Code Pink, Benjamin made headlines last week when she disrupted President Obama's foreign policy speech.
May 28, 2013

Sound Bites: Urban Farming, No SNAP Benefits For Violent Offenders, & A Fermentation Recipe!

May 28, 2013 - Hour 2 - On this live episode of Sound Bites, we discuss urban farming with Five Seeds Farm and the Baltimore Free Farm, the Senate's amendments to the Farm Bill that would bar people convicted of violent crimes from receiving benefits for life, and fermentation with Sandor Katz.
May 23, 2013

High-Ranking Military Officers Accused Of Sexual Assault Were Tasked With Preventing Sexual Assault

May 23, 2013 - Segment 2 - We discuss military culture in the wake of news that three high-ranking military officers tasked with preventing sexual assault were themselves accused of sexual assault.
May 22, 2013

Sound Bites: Arsenic In Our Chicken; Supreme Court’s Monsanto Ruling; Bay Oysters; and Salt Sugar Fat

May 22, 2013 - Hour 1 - This week on Sound Bites, we learn about a study measuring arsenic in the chicken we eat, seed giant Monsanto's victory in the Supreme Court, and oyster restoration projects in the Chesapeake Bay. Then, we talk to Michael Moss about his book on processed food and America's obesity crisis: Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.
May 21, 2013

Over 50 Confirmed Dead After Powerful Tornado Slams Oklahoma

May 21, 2013 - Segment 1 - We get an update on the powerful, monster tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma yesterday, killing at least 51 people. While initial reports ranked this tornado EF-4, the second most powerful kind of tornado, there is evidence that the tornado might be upgraded to EF-5, indicating speeds over 200mph.
May 16, 2013

I Am The Ancestor: Missing Child Becomes Missing Adult, Advocate

May 16, 2013 - Segment 2 - Symbolie "Monique" Smith joins us. She shares her personal story of being abducted, exploited, and raised by a woman she came to find out later in life was not actually her mother.
May 13, 2013

The Life and Death of Malcolm Shabazz, Grandson of Malcolm X

May 14, 2013 - Segment 3 - We reflect on the life and death of Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X, who was beat to death in an attempted robbery in Mexico City on Thursday, with Fred Hampton, Jr., Dr. Randy Short, and Dave Zirin.
May 9, 2013

State Of The Labor Movement And Remembering The Poor People’s Campaign

May 8, 2013 - Segment 1 - We host a conversation about the current state of the labor movement. We look at local organizing in Baltimore around living wages and fair development and talk about the 45th anniversary of the Poor People's Campaign.
May 6, 2013

Former Black Panther Assata Shakur Added To The FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists List

May 6, 2013 -Segment -2-Glen Ford, Executive Editor of Black Agenda Report.com and Peniel E. Joseph, Professor of History at Tufts University talked about Assata Shakur placing on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List.
May 2, 2013

Sound Bites: Malik Yakini And Labeling Genetically Engineered Foods

May 2, 2013 - Segment 3 - It's the latest episode of Sound Bites, featuring Malik Yakini, Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, and a debate on whether or not genetically engineered foods should be labeled.
April 24, 2013

Are We Trading Rights For Security?

April 24, 2013 - Segment 1 - Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com staff writer, joins us to talk about his recent article "How Boston Exposes America's Dark Post-9/11 Bargain." O'Hehir argues that U.S. residents have traded their rights for alleged security, but in actuality have received neither in return.
April 23, 2013

Update On Fertilizer Plant Explosion

April 23, 2013 - Segment 2 - We're joined by Martha Rosenberg, writer for OpEdNews.org and author of Born With a Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks, and Hacks Pimp the Public Health. Rosenberg discusses the ongoing situation in West, Texas, where a fertilizer plant exploded last week.